Tara Jane O'Neil
Encyclopedia
Tara Jane O'Neil (last name sometimes spelled "ONeil", sometimes known as TJO) is an American
multi-instrumentalist
, songwriter
, audio recording engineer
, and visual artist based out of Portland
, Oregon
.
, Retsin
(with Cynthia Nelson), The Sonora Pine
, The King Cobra, and Drinking Woman. She has played live and on recordings with Mount Eerie
, The Naysayer, Come
, Mirah
, Ida
, Sebadoh
, Jackie-O Motherfucker
, K., Michael Hurley, Papa M, and Amy Ray
.
Solo she has released several albums as Tara Jane O'Neil, formed the Ecstatic Tambourine Orchestra, and crafted soundtracks for film and theater.
O'Neil is also a notable visual artist. Her work has been exhibited in New York City
, Barcelona
, Tokyo
, Kyoto
, Louisville
, and Portland
, among other places. Her artwork has appeared on her solo record covers, on the record covers of many others (Retsin
, Ida
, The Naysayer, Castanets), in poetry books by Cynthia Nelson (Raven Days and The Kentucky Rules) and Maggie Nelson (cover of Something Bright, Then Holes), in the magazines Punk Planet
, Magnet
, The Wire
, Venus Zine
, Copper Press, and various international publications. Who Takes A Feather, a book of her drawings and paintings, was published in 2004 by Map Press out of Tokyo. In 2007, Wings. Strings. Meridians. A Blighted Bestiary was published by Yeti, including an album of live recordings, 4-track demos, and out-takes.
She starred in the 1994 indie film Half-Cocked.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
multi-instrumentalist
Multi-instrumentalist
A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays a number of different instruments.The Bachelor of Music degree usually requires a second instrument to be learned , but people who double on another instrument are not usually seen as multi-instrumentalists.-Classical music:Music written for Symphony...
, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, audio recording engineer
Audio engineering
An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
, and visual artist based out of Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
.
Biography
O'Neil has collaborated with a diverse community of friends and advisers, scoring theatre productions and short films, playing improvised shows, and working with dancers and painters. Her previous bands include RodanRodan (band)
Rodan was an American math/post-hardcore band in the early to mid 1990s. The best known lineup of the band consisted of Jeff Mueller , Jason Noble , Tara Jane O'Neil , and Kevin Coultas .-History:...
, Retsin
Retsin
Retsin was an American indie rock band founded by Tara Jane O'Neil and Cynthia Nelson.-History:Retsin was founded in 1993 by O'Neil, who had played with Rodan, and Nelson, a member of Ruby Falls...
(with Cynthia Nelson), The Sonora Pine
The Sonora Pine
-History:O'Neil formed the band after the breakup of Rodan in 1994, in which she played bass. After moving to New York City, she began working with guitarist Sean Meadows, formerly of Lungfish, and added violinist Samara Lubelski for local shows...
, The King Cobra, and Drinking Woman. She has played live and on recordings with Mount Eerie
Mount Eerie
Mount Eerie is an Anacortes, Washington-based band fronted by Phil Elverum. Elverum is the principal member of the band, but he has collaborated with many other musicians on his records.-History:...
, The Naysayer, Come
Come (US band)
Come was an American alternative rock band from 1990-2001. Come was formed in Boston by Thalia Zedek , Chris Brokaw , Arthur Johnson , and Sean O'Brien .-Band history:...
, Mirah
Mirah
Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn , is an American musician based in San Francisco California. She has released five albums under the K Records label.- Background :...
, Ida
Ida (band)
Ida is an indie rock band from New York City. They are known for their three part harmonies, sparse, minimal, often quiet arrangements, and for their three singer-songwriters...
, Sebadoh
Sebadoh
Sebadoh is an American indie rock band, formed in 1986 in Westfield, Massachusetts by Eric Gaffney and Dinosaur Jr bass player Lou Barlow. Along with such bands as Pavement and Guided by Voices, Sebadoh helped pioneer lo-fi music, a style of indie rock characterized by low-fidelity recording...
, Jackie-O Motherfucker
Jackie-O Motherfucker
Jackie-O Motherfucker is an American experimental music group that formed in Portland, Oregon in 1994.-Biography:Jackie-O Motherfucker began as a duo consisting of multi-instrumentalist Tom Greenwood and saxophonist Nester Bucket. The group has had more than forty members drawn from the U.S....
, K., Michael Hurley, Papa M, and Amy Ray
Amy Ray
Amy Elizabeth Ray is an American singer-songwriter and member of the contemporary folk duo Indigo Girls. She also pursues a solo career and has released four albums under her own name, and founded a record company, Daemon Records....
.
Solo she has released several albums as Tara Jane O'Neil, formed the Ecstatic Tambourine Orchestra, and crafted soundtracks for film and theater.
O'Neil is also a notable visual artist. Her work has been exhibited in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Kyoto
Kyoto
is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
, Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, and Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, among other places. Her artwork has appeared on her solo record covers, on the record covers of many others (Retsin
Retsin
Retsin was an American indie rock band founded by Tara Jane O'Neil and Cynthia Nelson.-History:Retsin was founded in 1993 by O'Neil, who had played with Rodan, and Nelson, a member of Ruby Falls...
, Ida
Ida (band)
Ida is an indie rock band from New York City. They are known for their three part harmonies, sparse, minimal, often quiet arrangements, and for their three singer-songwriters...
, The Naysayer, Castanets), in poetry books by Cynthia Nelson (Raven Days and The Kentucky Rules) and Maggie Nelson (cover of Something Bright, Then Holes), in the magazines Punk Planet
Punk Planet
Punk Planet was a 16,000 print run punk zine, based in Chicago, Illinois, that focused most of its energy on looking at punk subculture rather than punk as simply another genre of music to which teenagers listen. In addition to covering music, Punk Planet also covered visual arts and a wide...
, Magnet
Magnet (magazine)
Magnet is a music magazine which generally focuses on alternative, independent, or out-of-the-mainstream bands.-History:The magazine is published four times a year, and is independently owned and edited by Eric T. Miller. Music magazines with a similar focus in the 1990s era included Option,...
, The Wire
The Wire (magazine)
The Wire is a British avant garde music magazine, founded in 1982 by jazz promoter Anthony Wood and journalist Chrissie Murray. The magazine initially concentrated on contemporary jazz and improvised music, but branched out in the early 1990s to various types of experimental music...
, Venus Zine
Venus Zine
Venus Zine is a quarterly internationally circulated magazine covering women in music, film, art, entertainment, literature, fashion, indie culture and DIY culture.Venuszine.com is the daily updated online companion to the magazine...
, Copper Press, and various international publications. Who Takes A Feather, a book of her drawings and paintings, was published in 2004 by Map Press out of Tokyo. In 2007, Wings. Strings. Meridians. A Blighted Bestiary was published by Yeti, including an album of live recordings, 4-track demos, and out-takes.
She starred in the 1994 indie film Half-Cocked.
Albums
- Peregrine (2000, Quarterstick RecordsQuarterstick Records-Artists:*Bad Livers*Calexico*DK3*Dead Child*June of 44*Kepone*The Mekons*Mi Ami*Peter Móren *Mule*Naked Raygun*Tara Jane O'Neil*Pegboy*Phono-Comb*Rachel's*Rodan*Henry Rollins*Shipping News*Sholi*The Sonora Pine*Therapy?...
) - In The Sun Lines (2001, Quarterstick Records)
- TJO TKO (2002, Mr. Lady RecordsMr. Lady RecordsMr. Lady Records was a San Francisco-based lesbian-feminist independent record label and video art distributor. Artists on the label included Le Tigre and The Butchies. OutSmart magazine noted that Mr...
) - You Sound, Reflect (2004, Quarterstick Records)
- In Circles (2006, Quarterstick Records)
- A Ways Away (2009, K RecordsK RecordsK Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington, co-founded, owned, and operated by Calvin Johnson, formerly of the bands Cool Rays, Beat Happening, The Go Team, The Halo Benders and presently in the bands Dub Narcotic Sound System and The Hive Dwellers...
)
EPs
- The Joy Of... (2002, Acuarela Discos [Spain])
- Who Takes A Feather companion release 3" CD-EP (2003, Map Press [Japan])
- Vanishing Point original score for Naomi Izuka's play At The Vanishing Point (2004, self-released digital download)
- Tracer (2005, Compass Tone [Japan])
- A Raveling (2005, Acuarela Discos [Spain])
- After A Dark Seven (2006, self-released CD-R)
- Light Up Screen collection of short film scores (2006, self-released digital download)
- Live & Covered European tour EP (2008, self-released CD-R)
Singles
- Tie A Ribbon / Another Sunday Saint / If Your Youth Is Green (aka Troubleman Solo Singles Series #6) 7" single (2000, Troubleman Unlimited RecordsTroubleman Unlimited RecordsTroubleman Unlimited Records is a record label specializing in indie rock and similar genres. Founded in 1993, the label is based in Bayonne, New Jersey and owned by Mike Simonetti....
) - April 3, 2009 live adaptation of the song The Drowning Electric (2009, self-released digital download)
Compilation albums
- Bones (2004, Preservation [Australia]) (compilation of demos, alternate versions, out-takes, and songs from singles)
- Marrow (2004, self-released CD-R) (most songs also on Bones, hand-painted and numbered covers)
- To Trace A Raveling EP (2006, Mississippi Records) (12" vinyl release combining Tracer and A Raveling EPs)
- Wings. Strings. Meridians. companion release CD (2007, Yeti Publications) (compilation of home recordings, live tracks, and film scores)
Collaborations
- Tara Jane O'Neil and Daniel Littleton: Music For A Meteor Shower (2002, Tiger Style RecordsTiger Style RecordsTiger Style Records is an independent record label located in New York City, New York. It is owned and operated by Insound. As of 2004, it is on hiatus.- Artists who have worked with Tiger Style :*764-HERO*The Album Leaf*American Analog Set...
) - Tara Jane O'Neil and Nikaido Kazumi Tara Jane O'Neil and Nikaido Kazumi (2011, K RecordsK RecordsK Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington, co-founded, owned, and operated by Calvin Johnson, formerly of the bands Cool Rays, Beat Happening, The Go Team, The Halo Benders and presently in the bands Dub Narcotic Sound System and The Hive Dwellers...
)
Sources
- 3hive.com web info
- [ Tara Jane O'Neil on allmusic]
- eMusic Q&A: Tara Jane O'Neil
- 96 Gillespie's Tara Jane O'Neil bio
- Would You Believe It? Tara Jane O'Neil Covers Cher